Many Linux distros ship with an abundance of productivity, utility, network, and entertainment applications. But just as Windows users can download and install commercial, shareware, and freeware programs till they run out of hard drive space, Linux users also have access to a world full of programs for installation.

First, each distro ships with software that is not installed by default, and you can browse these applications and install them to your heart's content. Second, Linux has a system of repositories, locations on the Internet designed to work in conjunction with the operating system to offer an even greater selection of programs. Examples include SourceForge.net and freshmeat.net, as well as repositories with a more specialized focus. GnomeFiles.org, for instance, caters specifically to those who want software for GNOME environments.

None of this is big news, of course, to anyone who's used PC Magazine's downloads area or any other software portal for Windows. What makes the Linux system fascinating is that the OS and the repositories work together: You can configure your Add/Remove Software utility in Linux to link to the repositories, categorize the software, and help you locate the kinds of programs you want.

As with Windows, you can configure Linux to give it a highly personal look and feel. In fact, the possibilities are so vast that you can easily find yourself configuring features you didn't even know existed. But this is true mostly of the Administration tools, and it also applies more to the KDE configuration tools than those in the default GNOME environment, which streamlines Linux to remove much of its complexity. The standard configuration panels, as you'd expect, allow configuration along the lines of Windows' Control Panel, while the Administration tools resemble the Administrative Tools found in Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista.next: Working with Ubuntu >